Investigating and developing positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship among secondary school children in the Western Cape

Abstract

It is a well known fact that the development of entrepreneurs will have a number of benefits for the economy of the country. In addition, entrepreneurship represents an important vehicle to address the challenges of job creation and equity in South Africa. Throughout the world, it has been shown that entrepreneurs are playing a crucial role in expanding the economies in innovative and creative ways. - It is the opinion of policy-makers that with the appropriate enabling environment, South African entrepreneurs can follow the examples of Malaysian and Taiwanese entrepreneurs and make their mark on this economy. It would be very naive to assume that entrepreneurship would solve most of the economic problems of South Africa. However, it could not be denied that it does have an important role to play. Given the historical background of South Africa and the consequences thereof namely. Unemployment and low economic growth, it becomes clear that the country not only need more entrepreneurs, but a more positive attitude towards entrepreneurship among all communities. The question arises whether systems are in place to develop positive attitudes amongst all communities, particularly the youth. The Presidents Council's Report (1989) highlighted the inability of the current education system to promote entrepreneurship. It is in the light of the history of South Africa, as discussed above, that this study sets out to investigate the attitudes and methods for developing positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship among school children in the Western Cape. The study also aims to assess the factors that have impacted on their attitudes. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used to get detailed "information on the perceptions and attitudes towards entrepreneurship. An exploratory study of available literature and focus group discussions established some key variables that impacted on the attitudes of pupils. In addition, personal and telephonic interviews were conducted with teachers to get their views and opinions on the findings of the survey. The literature and group discussions provided the items for the research instrument used to gather the information. The sample of forty-five pupils from schools allover Western Cape indicated that there was great scope for developing positive attitudes among pupils from all race groups and both genders. The results also confirmed that, as postulated, the school context, inclusion of entrepreneurship in the school curriculum and the commitment of teachers and parents have the potential to effect positive changes in the perceptions and attitudes towards entrepreneurship. Analysis of the findings established that access to entrepreneurial programmes and projects could provide various benefits for the creation of an entrepreneurial culture. It further showed that entrepreneurial culture is not confined to particular cultural groups and that the awareness about entrepreneurship among pupils is growing. It thus revealed that awareness building among all population groups could have positive effects on developing positive attitudes. Another important outcome of the study is the greater awareness and the importance of entrepreneurship amongst pupils for the creation of jobs and 'the growing economy, As an outcome of the findings various recommendations are made regarding the integration of the subjects in the school curriculum. It concluded that the research was able to make a useful contribution to an understanding of the ways in which entrepreneurship and economic awareness could contribute to the growth of the economy and hence the equalisation of society.